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The Giant Candle
The Giant Candle is a lighthouse located in the south-west area of Wuhu Island, near Windmill park. Design The Giant Candle is so called because it is in the shape of a candle stick and was mistakably built twice the planned size. Because of this error, at the time of construction, it was the largest lighthouse in the pacific ocean, still holding the #3 ranking today. It is coloured all white and has windows all around the top. At night, the light coming from the giant candle can be seen from a far distance. Information Point Description Daytime: "A lighthouse that was mistakenly built at twice the planned size." Evening: *Needed* Nighttime: "This lighthouse produces as much light as 1,600,000 candles!" History The Candle was built in 1887 by architect Hans Hark Korwell. Hanz, being Dutch and not a native Wuhu citizen, planned the building in meters, but the largely Wuhuian workforce misinterpreted this as being in their native units. This resulted in a final building 2.187 times the original intended size. Because of this error, the building was deemed unsafe, and civilians are not allowed to enter or get too close to the building. Through the early to mid 1980's, The Candle consistently ranked in the top 3 most visited tourist locations on the island. It was prominently featured in most promotional material and marketing for the island. Estimates place the yearly revenue generated by The Candle at around $900,000 at its peak, making it an important landmark to stimulate the economy. In 1987, the Wuhu Department of Tourist Affairs realized that The Candle's popularity was waning, and so they organized an event to celebrate the aniversary of its construction and built an exhibit in the nearby Republic of Miitopia, later rebuilt as New Town. The exhibit contained the original plans for the building, along with images of what the Candle may have looked like if built at its intended size. This lead to another surge in tourist interest. The Heist In what is often referred to as "the greatest heist this side of the horizon line," in 2015, local Mii Pierre stole the Candle. Pierre was born on the neighbouring Vahu Island, and held the booming Wuhu tourist industry in high contempt. Over the course of 4 years starting in 2011, Pierre began piecemeal raising parts of the building by jackscrew, and deconstructing the inside structures. Having studied the building plans available in the nearby exhibit, he discovered an open cavity between two walls of the building, where he lived with his wife Silke from 2011-2013, after which he worried the building was no longer stable enough for residence. By reverse engineering the architectural structure, he modularized the Candle so that he and Silke could carry it away piece by piece with stolen Air Sports vehicles. Various locals reported seeing a hang gliding figure flying away with the orb on top, which is the only piece that has not been retrieved to this day. The Wuhu authorities were able to track down Pierre and Silke and retrieved The Candle. The couples plan was to sell it to an eccentric billionare and invest the money in cryptocurrency OneCoin. This put them on the radar of cybercriminal Ruja Ignatova, who is believed to have liked their "moxie", the "cut of their jib" so to speak and assisted them in escaping to Cuba, where the Wuhu government does not have extradition rights. They have not been seen since.Category:Locations